News updates

Prime Minister Hassan Diab received yesterday NCLW president, Claudine Aoun Rukuz, to discuss women’s concerns and rights. During the meeting, Rukuz hailed Diab’s move to appoint six women ministers in the new cabinet applying, as such, the anticipated 30% representation quota which is not yet ordained by law. Aoun suggested including a section on women’s issues and rights in the ministerial statement. Rukuz also presented Diab with the topics currently handled by NCLW and its goals and handed him a copy of its national action plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325. The latter, to recall, was ratified by the government this past September awaiting its implementation by the new cabinet. Discussion also touched on the various laws related to women that are still pending in the government and legislature. (Al Diyar, January 30, 2020)
 

Tunisian female tennis player, Anas Jaber, ranked 78th internationally, is the first Arab player to reach the quarter finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, the Grand Slam by winning victory over Chinese Wang Xiang by (7-6, 6-1). According to An Nahar, Jaber continued her performances in the championship knocking down Danish Caroline Wozniacki classified as former world number one in the last tournament before she announced her retirement in the previous round. She also beat British Johanna Conta in the first round and French Caroline Garcia in the second. Jaber expressed hope that her achievement will inspire the young generation in the Arab world. She recalled that she was trained in Tunisia from the age of 3 until 17, and hence she proves to be completely a Tunisian brainchild! Noting, that Jaber has earned the Roland Garros title in 2011 beating Puerto Rican Monica Puig, before channeling her flair professionally grabbing the first victory in 2017 over Slovakia’s Dominica Chipolkova. (Al Akhbar, An Nahar, January 27, 2020)
 

In collaboration with the Arab Network for Democratic Elections (ANDE), the Forum for Women in Politics, the Arab Region, organized a conference on January 24, during which it launched its third annual report on the ‘The Status of Women in Politics in the Arab Region’. The report stresses the political participation of Arab women and their active role in the popular uprisings. In its first part, the report analyzed the current status of women’s engagement in political parties, unions and the three (executive, Judiciary and legislative) branches of the government across three geographic areas, namely North Africa and West Asia and the Arab Gulf and Yemen. It tackled the conditions of women in parliamentary elections during the period between 2018 and the beginning of 2019 in each of Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain, as well as the municipal elections in Tunisia and Bahrain, including the electoral process and its outcomes and the female participation, as both electorates and candidates. Regarding the protests, the above report explains that since the outbreak of so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in 2010, women were in the frontlines. And with the development of the feminist movement in the region, women contributed to political, social and legal achievements. On the other hand, the report pointed out that women’s involvement in the public sphere was not okay or easy. Women had to pay a heavy price and are still struggling to maintain their public and private endeavors up to reaching gender justice. (NNA, January 24, 2020)
 

As part of a project funded by the Canadian Embassy in Beirut and run by Mercy Corps, the North Local Economic Development Agency, LEDA, held on January 23 a dialogue session entitled “Women economic development”. The event is organized in collaboration with LEDA’s local partners including, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Tripoli and the North, the Lebanese University (Faculty of Social Sciences) and Al Midan Association. The seminar which took place at the Faculty of Social Sciences- LU, Third Branch, covered a number of topics related to gender discrimination and challenges facing women and youth’s access to the labor market. The session began with a live testimony from Hanin Hassan and Maha Shaker followed by lecturers who spoke about their own experiences. The event represented an opportunity for the Faculty’s students to inquire about the shared experiences and to take notes in the areas of empowering women and youth. (Al Akhbar, January 24, 2020)
 

Al Akhbar newspaper reported today that Syria has, in the past few months, witnessed a rise in homicides against women on pretext of love. Al Akhbar wrote about a young man, 19, who stormed the house of a 15-year-old girl in Sweida Province and detonated a hand grenade killing himself and the girl. Citing informed sources, the newspaper said the young man has proposed to the victim but was refused by her family. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to the general coordinator of ‘Tulip’ organization, Shady Saab, who revealed a rise in crimes against women in general as a result of the war, the random proliferation of weapons among Syrians and the ease of access and acquisition. Saab also stressed that the prevalence of violence in society, especially against women and girls, has become a commonplace with a general debility of the role of the judiciary and a growing conviction among perpetrators of impunity. The harsh economic conditions coupled with psychological pressures, in addition to the hegemony of a macho society and patriarchal traditions supported by discriminatory laws against women, have contributed to making women the weak link, Saab concluded. (For more on the subject: ( https://bit.ly/2RIwr77). (Al Akhbar, January 24, 2020)